Transportation means



April 20, 1926.

- W. P. KELLETT TRANSPORTATION MEANS April 20 1926.

w'. PQKELLETT TRANSPORTATION MEANS Filed Jan. 26, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented As 20,1926.

"WELIAE PLATTS KELIIETT, OFIIBRAN'IFORD, ONTARIO, CANADA.

rmsronruron MEA s.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, WILLIAM PLArrrs KEL- LE'rT, a subject of the King of Great Britain,

and resident of the city of Brantford, county I of Brant, Province of Ontario, in the Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Transportation Means, as described in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, that form part of the same.

'The principal objects of the invention are to reduce the cost of the transportation of goods, eliminating the losses on demurrage of expensive railway rolling stock and motor truck equipment in loading and unloading, and to devise a system which will enable the rapid loading or unloading of auxiliary car bodies upon or from a train of railway cars.

A further object is to utilize the maximum railwaycar capacity in the handllng of less than carload shipments; i

A still further object is to provide an equipment which will be comparatively inexpensive and can be adapted to standard railway cars.

The principal feature consists in providing sectional demountable car bodies wlth truck wheels so arranged that the bodies may be moved longitudinally from one car to another upon track-ways mounted longitudinally of the railway cars.

' Further features of importance consist in the novel manner of securing the sectional platform and also showing a deliverytruck for transporting the sectional body.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of a railway car showing a sectional 'open typeof body for handling bulk materials, such as j coal, stone, etc.

Figure 3 is an enlarged elevational view of a portion of a railway car of the open type of sectional car body.

Figure 4 is an end elevation of one-of the box car sections showing the railway car body in cross section therebeneath- Fi re 5. is an enlarged detail of the rail support and the wheel structureof the car sect on.

Application fil ed January 26. 1925. Serial No. 4,852.

Figure 6 is an enlarged detail of the means for fastening the abutting ends of two car sections.

Figure 7 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the rail end blocks.

It has been proposed to devise demountable truck bodies as goods containers and to mount the same on wheels and special railway cars with transversely arranged trackways have been provided to receive such trucks or demountable truck bodies or containers, but such containers have very limited capacity as their length is limited to the width of the railway car and their width is limited according to street traflic ordinances.

The present system contemplates the use of demountable truck bodies in the form of sectional railway car bodies and such bodies are formed with the maximum capacity of length for pro ortional railway car load weights and t e maximum of width and height.

In order to carry this invention into effect, it is necessary to provide railway cars especially fitted with rails running lengthwise of the deck. I

In the accompanying drawings, the standard flatcar 1 is shown provided with longitudinally arranged rails 2 and a raised supplementary deck 3.- The rails 2 extend from end to end of the deck of the car and are here shown of the grooved type but a standard T-head rail may be used, if desired.

Beveled blocks,3 are arranged at each end of the rails 2 and these are provided with flaring flanges and are adapted to guide the wheels of the sectional carbodies to the rails as said bodies are moved from car to car, the bevel and flange surfaces taking care of the differences in alignment of the rails of the cars.

The sectional 'car bodies 4 shown in Fig ures 1 and 4 are of the box car type, having suitable doors in the sides and ends so that they may be loaded or unloaded from either of the ends or sides, consequently they will not require to be specially placed on the car. 1 These sectional car bodies are made up of" strong steel structures and they are supported upon the flanged wheels 5, which en.

gage the rails 2.

pair of wheels are arranged as close as possible to each end of the car and two other pairs are arranged intermediate offithe length.

The distance between the outer end wheels and the adjacent inner wheels is slightly greater than the maximum span betweenthe In order to accomplish this result the sectional car body must be at least three betw out danger,

times the length of the maximum distance een the rail ends of a pair of coupled cars, a proximately 14 ft. and wheels are arrang at the ends andrat a distance of onethird the length from each end. The car 1s so constructed that lever support for the end of the body projecting over the end of the railway car, which will ensure the projected end reaching the next. car rail support at approximately the same level and without danger of the car tipping endwise, no matter how the car section may be loaded. a

arrangement of wheels on the body section is very important as it enables the car sections to be moved lengthwise of a train of railway cars from car to car withas there will always be at least three sets of wheels on the rails in passing from one car to another.

The sectional car bodies fit closely together u n the top of a railway car with the. end- I ams abutting, and each section is provided with a chain coupler, 6, detailed in Figure 6, which is adapted to be hooked into the collar 7 of ascrew jack 8 rigidly mountwith respect to longitudinal movement on the car deck. The jacks are arranged at each end of the car sections and the chains 6 are coupled thereto andthe jacks are then tightened down, thus drawingthe car sections tightly together 'and holding them down tlghtly to the rails, bracing them against end and side play. The car sections are rovided with hoist ing bars 9 which exten diagonally upward om their lower frames and these bars are providedwith suitable eyes at the top ends to receive the hooks from a hoist of any suitb able kind for lifting the sections bodilyhe sectional car bodies 10 illustrated in Figures 2, 3 and 5 are of the opentop steeltype and are providedwith wheels andfas tening equipment similar to the sections 4. They are also provided with hoisting bars the same as are the sections 4 and the endsare preferably hinged at the top to swing outwardly so Wmay be usedfon.

, dumping trucks for un oading.

-F gure 1 an unloading platform. 11 is shown at theend and the abutment 12 is provided with 3.

there is always a. canti-.

system. It will readily be seen that ofa line of railway rails coupler to engage the coupler of therailway car to hold it and the attached tram secure- I)" to the platform. Tracks corresponding with the tracks on the cars are arranged on the platform vto guide the car sectlons 1n their placing or removal. r

A suitable hauling device 13 may be mstalled below the platform 11 to operate a cable which may be extended along the .top of the railway cars and coupled to the car sections wherever desired to haul the car sections along the top of the train either in loading or unloading. The platform is used in conjunction with a suitable type of motor truc the ohe here shown being of the trailer variety and which is provided with suitable track-ways to receive the wheels of the sectional car bodies. Trucks of this type are at present in use and are provided with cable drums which may be used in drawing the car sections to the-platform or they may unload directly from the cars.

In the operation of the transportationform car body equipment of substantially the total car capacity.

The car body sections may be handled from truck to car and car to truck by means of a suitable hoisting apparatus such as an overhead or gantry crane if desired but such an equipment will not be available at'all places where the cars may be sent, consequently the longitudinal track arrangement enabling the car sections to be moved from car to caris a very important feature of.-the

by providing sectional car bodies such as described a standard flat car, which is the least expensive of all railway car equipment, can be readily converted to a gondola ,a coal car, a

effective in the handling of freight and will reduce the cost of transporation to the mini be taken from warehouse to warehouse without unloading.

\Vhat I claim as my invention is j 1. A transportation means comprising the combination with standard railway flat cars provided with longitudinal track-ways on the decks thereof, of demountable car-bodies having wheels engaging said track-ways so arranged in relation to the body structure mum, as they can ox car, or refrigerator car, as the sections that either end of the body may be projected beyond the flat car without support, a distance suflicient to bring the outer support into supporting contact with the next adj acent coupled car, without disturbing the horizontal equilibrium of the body, whether loaded or unloaded.

2. A transportation means comprising the combination with standard railway flat cars provided with longitudinal track-ways on the decks thereof, of demountable carbodies having wheels engaging said trackways arranged at the ends of said body-and at a distance substantially one-third the length of the body from each end, the structure of the body being such that two-thirds of the length from either end thereof will be of such weight as to support the'remaining portion in suspension while carrying the capacity load in the movement of the body on its wheeled supports from one car to another.

3. A transportation means, comprising, railway flat cars provided with longitudinal track-ways. on the decks thereof, end blocks at the ends of the tracks beveled down wardly from the top of the rail and having flaring side flanges, and sectional car bodies having wheels to engage said trackways and arranged to span the space between the tracks of coupled cars.

\VILLIAM PLATTS KELLETT. 

